Community Property States

I am a judgment broker, and am not a lawyer. My
articles are my opinions,
and not legal advice. If you ever need any legal advice
or a strategy to
use, please contact a lawyer.

Community property states are those where both married
spouses share
responsibility for all debts and income incurred or
earned by themselves
individually, and also whatever is earned or any debts
incurred by their
spousal partner. Community property means that each
spouse has a one-half,
undivided, legal or equitable, vested or contingent,
present or future
interest in their assets and properties.

Sometimes the judgment debtor named on your judgment is
judgment proof,
meaning they will be difficult or impossible to recover
from. In community
property states, you may have two people to recover
from, which doubles
your chances to recover the money you are owed.

Judgment enforcement choices sometimes depend on
community property laws
that vary in most community property states. A quick
visit to the local
law library or a few minutes of research on the web,
should easily clarify
the situation of a judgment in a community property
state.

In a community property state, one can usually levy
wages, property, bank
accounts, or other assets belonging to the judgment
debtor and their
spouse. Levying a judgment debtor's spouse usually
requires approval by
the court, and a properly endorsed court-filed
affidavit, declaration, or
a motion; that documents your reasons why some assets
of the judgment
debtor's spouse should be available to pay towards the
judgment debt.

Not every asset a couple has can be considered
community property. What is
usually considered to be community property is all the
money each spouse
earned during the length of their marriage, and any
assets bought with
their earnings including real estate, vehicles, and
most any other asset,
and usually also their debts. Unless separate assets
can be traced to
their origin, commingling separate and community
property usually results
in all commingled assets being considered to be
community property.

What is usually not community property is anything
either spouse earned or
received before their marriage, or gifts or
inheritances the non-debtor
spouse received during the marriage that was not used
by both parties.

The laws of your state will show the extent of a
judgment debtor spouse's
liability for a judgment debt. Often in a community
property state, you
can pursue both spouse's assets to recover your
judgment. It might not
matter whether they are still married, as long as they
were married when
the money judgment was issued by the court. In
community property states,
you probably can levy, garnish, or pursue most any
other enforcement
strategy against both spouse at the same time.